Unseen
by neringaaa
Summary: 3 Social Statuses, 2 girls, and 1 truth *A story with a similar plot as in Divergent, however, with different characters and a slightly different government.*
1. Prologue

"Unseen" Prologue

We are taught on day one the importance of ambition and success. Ambition and success equal better jobs, which amount to greater pay and ultimately...a higher social class. However, what people fail to realize is while they are trying to enforce these ideals on young children, notions of segregation become attached to the child's mentality as well. The first great issue of segregation was race, which seemed to be ages ago. Racism used to freely run through the nation, as if it was as natural as the earth itself. However, people were eventually able to realize how futile the idea of racism was...people were not able to choose their race and therefore, they did not deserve the ridicule. Despite this, humanity quickly realized that a void now existed; if they could not hate people for their race, what could they hate them for? The answer was simple: money-a factor in one's life that is typically influenced by one's choices. At that point, society split into three sections, covering the three different groups of wealth. At the top of the pyramid was the wealthy class or the Desirables. They consisted mostly of high-ranking government officials and aristocrats; however, successful surgeons, doctors, and lawyers made a slight percentage of it as well. The Desirables were free to live life however they pleased, void of stress and work that would be accomplished by the other classes. Adults often attended luxurious cocktail parties while teenagers typically partied nighttime events such as raves and music festivals-embracing their youth with slight rebellion. Underneath this class was the middle class or the Basics, who essentially supported the entire society through their labor. As Basics, the people were to lead a simple life free from vanity, parties, and other factors that could distract them from supporting the framework that made up the society. At the very bottom of the social classes was the Unseen: the people who lived at or below the poverty line. Individuals from higher classes were not allowed to acknowledge them...they were meant to be unseen, unwanted, and undesired. Breaking big-enough laws could result in becoming banished to the Unseen and upward social mobility was practically nonexistent. Becoming an Unseen was synonymous of dying; life was bleak, food was scarce, and disease was widespread. However, the Unseen did possess something the other classes did not: the truth. The truth about humanity, the truth about life, and the truth about the government.

Being taught these basic principles when growing up only enforce the idea of social segregation. When certain levels of wealth are not met by society's standards, the individual is to be looked down upon. The amount of money a person makes starts to replace the amount of happiness he/she has working. Money becomes not only another basic necessity for survival but also an indicating factor of one's status and lifestyle. The innocuous values of ambition and success are laced with greed, cleverly instilled into the minds of young children and will continue into a never-ending cycle, leaving no room for change, hope, or life.

**This is my first story and prologue so let me know what you guys think! I have so many ideas as to where this story can go and feel like I will have so much fun writing this story. Please leave any comments, feedback, and suggestions you have for me as that will help a lot. I will try to post each chapter every Sunday so if you want more, stick around!**


	2. Chapter 1

When we are born, we are each given a name by our mothers to symbolize our uniqueness and first steps into the world. Most names typically do not have any specific meanings, however, my mother ensured that mine did. On the date of my birth, my mother decided to call me Shay—a name she told me meant "admirable". As Basics, we are to live simple lives full of commendable actions, making my name quite fitting. Names are not the only thing assigned to us on our birthdays; we also receive special markings on our abdomens that symbolize what social class we come from. The marking is like a tattoo: it stays for life unless we move up or down the classes. However, unlike a tattoo, the marking also glows brightly in order to alert to others what class we belong to. This is just one of the many methods the government has enforced in order to keep individuals in their respective areas, as if the tall fences and active security around the borders weren't enough.

The home of the Desirables is the most heavily guarded of the three social classes. The Desirables all live at the highest point of the city, surrounded by tall concrete walls and armed men patrolling the perimeter. Despite this, regardless of where one is standing, the mansions and buildings are in plain sight. I don't know if this is because the homes are just so big that they overwhelm the concrete wall, or if they were purposefully designed to be seen by everybody in order to instill jealousy and want for the Desirable lifestyle—probably a little of both. Every night, I hear the loud parties the Desirable teenagers have and wonder how different my life is from theirs. I spend my entire day at school, not gaining an education, but rather gaining skills such as crafting, cooking, and parenting. Only Desirables are allowed to have an education. The Basic compound was also guarded, but no so much as to let people in as to keep people from coming out. Desirables were free to roam the city—within reason—but us Basics were stuck here. While life as a Basic is quite drab, it's manageable and not nearly as bad as life of an Unseen. No one knows much about them other than the fact that they are the discarded people of our society. We are not to look at them, talk to them, and certainly not befriend them or else we risk becoming an Unseen ourselves. They are depicted to us as the Plague and people we are not to be interacting with.

When I was six years old, I almost died. I was sent to fetch a pail of water from the well and as I was unreeling the line with the container, I began to reach for the bucket of water. Leaning in too far, I ended up losing my balance and nearly fell into the well to my definite doom. However, just before I fell in, I was quickly jerked back by a girl in my class named Aubri. Aubri was probably the most beautiful girl I had ever seen in our compound. She had dark chocolate hair with waves that complemented her round face, prominent cheekbones, and piercing blue eyes. She didn't look like a Basic, nor did she act like one. From the day that she saved my life forward, we became best friends and nearly inseparable. All of the girls at school envied her appearance and bold attitude and it was fascinating to see the reactions of the boys as we walked by—all of them staring at her of course. Their eyes would grow wide and they would stop whatever action they were previously doing and just _stare_ at her. Stare is not even a strong enough word to describe this phenomenon but the whole situation certainly was captivating to witness.

My appearance, especially when standing next to Aubri, was that of a typical Basic. I was…well…basic. My hair wasn't really blonde nor was it brunette. I was of average height and weight, maybe even a little stockier than typical, but I was strong—and fast. My face wasn't really too captivating either, however, the one thing I _did_ like was my eyes. They were a deep green color that looked identical to my mother's. I felt like our eyes brought us a special connection that we shared together, one of which was not allowed in the life of a Basic. In this respect, I was slightly rebellious.

Rebellious doesn't even begin to describe Aubri and she definitely has had an effect on me. Two years ago, when we were both 14, she convinced me to sneak out of my house for a night stroll. She had knocked on my window and woken me up in the middle of the night.

"Are you crazy?" I shriekingly whispered to her in response to her plan, "Do you know what would happen if we got caught?"

"Yeah, yeah banishment to the Unseen. Certain death. Blah blah. C'mon Shay! We're 14 and living life like 40-year-olds. We have our entire lives to sleep and follow the rules. Can't we just have fun for one night? Besides, we won't go far and we'll be back in within an hour."

"Alright, but _only_ if we stay within a one-mile radius and be back home before 2 A.M."

Aubri didn't respond, but just gave me a cheeky smile that said, "Yes ma'am!" All of the Basic homes were one-story, so climbing out of the window was a breeze. We had initially just walked around by the school and garden, talking, telling stories, and just joking around. We even stargazed for a while until Aubri finally told me the real reason she snuck me out of the house.

"Shay? I need to tell you something," Aubri stated suddenly.

"Hmm?" I sleepily replied.

"I have a boyfriend."

That woke me up. As Basics, we are only allowed to have relationships with the opposite gender once we reach 18, and the relationship is only for the purpose of reproduction. Boyfriends and girlfriends were strictly forbidden as they often distracted us from our Basic duties and way of life. Of course all of the boys wanted to be Aubri's boyfriend, but they were able to restrain themselves. Everyone knew being caught with a boyfriend or girlfriend would result in immediate banishment.

"Aubri do you know how dangerous that is? If the authorities find out, you'll be sent away to the Unseen. Do you want that? What were you thinking?" I practically shrieked.

"SHUT UP," she mouthed, "Do you want the whole damn city to hear you? Listen Shay, I'm telling you this because I trust you and I thought you wouldn't judge me—"

"I'm not judging you Aubri, I just don't want you getting in trouble."

We both sat in a collective silence, her more out of anger and me more out of shock. After a while, I asked, "So who is it?"

Her face immediately lit up and she began her long story. His name was Eli and he had "the most perfectly quaffed jet black hair that shined when the sun hit it and eyes as brown as the earth itself." Aubri went on about how his smile was able to transform from a smirk to a dimpled grin that just made her melt. I laughed at her description and then asked, "Where'd you meet him? I don't remember seeing anyone like that around here, especially with the name Eli."

"Well…that's the thing…he's not Basic."

If there was anything worse than being Basic and having a boyfriend, it was having a boyfriend who _wasn't_ Basic.

"Aubri that's just crossing the line, how did you even meet him? Is he a Desirable? Please don't tell me he's an Unseen."

"Of course he's a Desirable, why would I date anyone who's not?"

_Why would you risk everything and date anyone at all?_

"I met him when I was doing my deliveries to the Desirable gates. It was my turn that week."

Each week, our craft instructor has a girl send all of the pots, blankets, and pottery we had made during the week to the Desirables. An armed guard escorts the girl to the Desirable gate where one of the Desirable people picks up her delivery.

"When Eli picked up my delivery Shay, I swear, the eye contact we made was so intense that it even gave me butterflies. We ended up staring at each other for a while until the guard told me that it was time to go back. When it was my turn to deliver the crafts again, I was so excited. Apparently Eli had repeatedly been volunteering to accept the deliveries in the hopes of seeing me again—and he finally did. When we met again, he slipped a note into my hand as I exchanged the goods with him."

"What'd the note say?"

"At first, I didn't know. None of us know how to read around here, so I had to find somebody who could."

"That means you asked a teacher, right?"

"Yes, I asked our cooking teacher Mrs. Jones because I knew she could read recipes. She translated the message to me: 'Meet me in two days at the Basic courtyard at midnight'. Mrs. Jones asked me with whom I was communicating with and I told her it was you. I said we were teaching each other to read and write, and I was having a tough time figuring out your message. She didn't ask any further questions, so I quickly left."

"So what happened after?"

"I met Eli at the courtyard like I was supposed to and I was actually quite shocked that he was able to come to the compound. He told me that Desirables were able to do and go wherever they wanted, as long as it wasn't to the Unseen compound. From there, we just ended up talking until the sun came up…and I even kissed him."

My jaw dropped. I have never seen anyone kiss in real life—husbands and wives didn't even express that type of affection.

"How was it?" I asked, my eyes wide.

"Kinda weird…but nice. I've been seeing him whenever I could and now I've figured that it's time."

"Time for what?"

"Time that you meet him too."

Meeting Eli was terrifying for me. He was the most handsome boy I had ever seen—everything about him screamed perfection. The level of intimidation I felt was through the roof, but to my surprise, he was really easy to talk to. The connection that Aubri and Eli had was so evident and it made me feel comfortable when I was around them. We all stayed out and talked until I eventually realized that it was almost dawn and I had to return home.

Years later, when we became 16, Aubri and Eli continued their relationship. I'd never seen two people so in love and so happy. Eli would bring us Desirable food such as cheesecake and chocolate—delicacies I had only heard stories of. He even us to go back to the Desirable compound with him and permanently live there, but we all knew that was impossible. Not only were we marked by our social class on our abdomens, but we also couldn't just leave our families behind.

I continually let myself open up more and become more adventurous. I was sneaking out with Aubri almost every night. We wouldn't do much anyway but just the action of sneaking out was thrilling to me. I started to begin feeling less like a Basic and more like a regular person who wasn't defined by the wealth of my family. Eventually, I became the one to initiate sneaking out and I was the one who had all the activities planned. I felt unrestricted—free and daring. But of course, no matter what I did, I was never as daring as Aubri.

"C'mon let's go," she said, knocking at my window.

"Sure…where?"

"The Desirable compound."


End file.
